EM ASIA FX-Asian currencies fall on yuan weakness, lingering trade concerns

(Adds text, updates prices)

July 20 (Reuters) - China's yuan tumbled to its

lowest in more than a year against the dollar after China's

central bank lowered its midpoint fix for a seventh straight

session, although it reversed most of its losses later in the

day.

The People's Bank of China set the daily midpoint for

onshore trading at 6.7671 per dollar on Friday, the lowest since

July 14, 2017. The move was also the biggest one-day weakening

in percentage terms since June 27, 2016.

The yuan's decline comes as China grapples with a slowdown

in its economic growth and faces high tariffs on some goods it

exports to the United States.

Wei Liang Chang, an FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, said the

yuan's weakness could cushion the economy from downside risks

which was the reason the PBOC was comfortable with it.

"At the same time, they (PBOC) will be keen to pre-empt

excessive speculation. In 2015, speculation caused very heavy

capital outflows, and they don't want to see a repeat of that,"

Chang said.

Some traders said major state-owned Chinese banks were seen

selling dollars in both onshore and offshore foreign exchange

markets on Friday, in an attempt to prevent the yuan from

sinking too rapidly.

Other Asian currencies also fell sharply on Friday.

The Indian rupee hit a record low of 69.13 per

dollar earlier on the day, while Indonesia's rupiah

fell to its lowest since October 2015.

Indonesia's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate

unchanged on Thursday, as expected, pausing a monetary

tightening cycle aimed at bolstering the rupiah, while affirming

it was still ready to support the currency.

"Most Asian countries have very high export similarity with

China. To maintain competition, there is going to be some degree

of adjustment in line with RMB (yuan) weakness," said Mizuho's

Wei Liang.

The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies

fell 0.16 percent to 95.004 on Friday, holding just above

the psychologically-significant threshold of 95.

The dollar dropped after U.S. President Donald Trump

criticised the U.S. Fed's monetary tightening and what he said

was the potential impact on the U.S. economy and

competitiveness.

While the greenback has fallen against the major currencies

over the past two days, it has strengthened against the regional

currencies.

Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX research at Maybank, said the

Fed's hawkish rhetoric and lingering concerns over a trade war

would support the U.S. dollar.

He said "USD strength is expected to be uneven", with Asian

currencies feeling more pressure than G3 currencies in coming

days.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0544 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change as of 0544

GMT

Currency Latest Previous Pct

bid day Move

Japan yen 112.320 112.45 +0.12

Sing dlr 1.367 1.3705 +0.26

Taiwan dlr 30.737 30.632 -0.34

Korean won 1134.20 1133.2 -0.09

0

Baht 33.420 33.45 +0.09

Peso 53.530 53.53 +0.00

Rupiah 14530.0 14470 -0.41

00

Rupee 69.123 69.05 -0.11

Ringgit 4.058 4.062 +0.10

Yuan 6.777 6.7796 +0.03

Change so far in

2018

Currency Latest End 2017 Pct

bid Move

Japan yen 112.320 112.67 +0.31

Sing dlr 1.367 1.3373 -2.17

Taiwan dlr 30.737 29.848 -2.89

Korean won 1134.20 1070.50 -5.62

0

Baht 33.420 32.58 -2.51

Peso 53.530 49.93 -6.73

Rupiah 14530.0 13565 -6.64

00

Rupee 68.870 63.87 -7.26

Ringgit 4.058 4.0440 -0.34

Yuan 6.777 6.5069 -3.99

(Reporting By Patturaja Murugaboopathy; Additional Reporting

by Gaurav Dogra and Karthika Namboothiri

Editing by Eric Meijer)